Published January 13, 2015
Iran has agreed to release three Finnish employees of Nokia Siemens Networks who were detained Saturday after straying into Iran's territorial waters during a fishing trip in the Persian Gulf, the company said Wednesday.
"They (the men) have contacted us and said they will return to Dubai shortly," Nokia Siemens spokesman Barry French said. "We certainly appreciate the support of the government of Finland in reaching out to the Iranian counterparts." He gave no other details.
Earlier Wednesday, an Iranian official confirmed the three men had been detained.
Ahmad Akhoundi, deputy governor of Iran's Hormozgan province, was quoted by the official IRNA news agency as saying that the three Finns were being questioned by authorities, although he did not say where they were being held.
He said they had "entered Iranian territorial waters" around Abu Musa island, about 700 miles southeast of the capital, Tehran, off the coast of Dubai.
Finnish Ambassador Heikki Puurunen said Iranian officials had assured him the three were in good condition and had been treated well since they were seized Saturday. But Puurunen said Iran had not yet agreed to a Finnish request to see the men in accordance with consular agreements between the two countries.
"The only message we have got from the Iranians is that they are in good condition and they are taking good care of them," Puurunen told The Associated Press. "They said that they will inform us as soon possible. ... In Iran, it usually it takes some time to get these things."
In Helsinki, Foreign Ministry spokesman Pasi Tuominen said Iranian officials had told Finnish diplomats the three were expected to be released "within 48 hours."
Finnish Foreign Minister Ilkka Kanerva said during a visit to Portugal that he was "confident everything is going quite well" and the men would be "released in the nearest future, today or latest, tomorrow."
Iranian Embassy representative Ahmad Reza Shamsi in Helsinki also told Finnish YLE radio that the three would soon be freed, citing "good relations between the two countries" and adding the men had "entered this area by mistake, most probably."
After the Finns' seizure, the Foreign Ministry in Helsinki revised its travel advisory on the Persian Gulf, saying that travel near Abu Musa and other islands in the region should be avoided.
In March, Iranian Revolutionary Guards detained 15 British sailors and marines after seizing their ship in what Tehran claimed were Iranian waters in the Persian Gulf. Britain insisted the crew was in Iraqi waters at the time. The 15 were released after nearly two weeks in captivity.
In November 2005, Iranian officials arrested a Frenchman and German during a sailing trip, purportedly for taking photos of ships in the Persian Gulf. Stephane Lherbier and Donald Klein were convicted in January 2006 and sentenced to 18 months in prison. Lherbier, the Frenchman, was released in February 2007, and Klein was freed in March.
https://www.foxnews.com/story/iran-reportedly-agrees-to-free-3-detained-finnish-tourists